Acadia Minor Order of Insect BioBlitz – August 7-10, 2009 Thursday, August 13, 2009 A total of 46 people participated in the 7th annual BioBlitz held at Acadia National Park’s Schoodic Education and Research Center. Both professional and amateur entomologists spent 1,308 hours searching for and collecting insects from 16 orders that have relatively few species in Maine. Institutions represented at the event included: Maine Entomological Society, Maine Forest Service, New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, University of Maine, University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Maine, Illinois State University, University of North Alabama, Texas A&M University, Colby College, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In addition, a taxonomist from the University of Tennessee has agreed to identify the Collembola species not identified at the BioBlitz. For the full story see the article on the Northeast Park Science blog.

Distribution and Ecosystem Services of Eelgrass Monday, August 03, 2009 Eelgrass (photo: NOAA) Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is widely recognized as an important habitat for shallow water ecosystems. Eelgrass beds provide nursery habitat and food for many invertebrate, finfish, shellfish and waterbird species. Growing along coastal shorelines, this habitat also slows water flow, dampens wave energy, and stabilizes sediments. In 2008 Acadia Partners provided a fellowship to Wendy Norden and Doug McNaught, of the University of Maine at Machias, to study the ecosystem services provided by eelgrass in the habitats around Schoodic Point. They will present their findings in a talk at Moore Auditorium at 7 PM on Saturday, August 8. Read full article: 'Distribution and Ecosystem Services of Eelgrass' (870 bytes more)

Wildlife of the Schoodic Peninsula: Toward an Ecological Inventory Monday, August 03, 2009 On Tuesday evening, August 4, Robert P. Brooks, PhD, Professor of Geography and Ecology, and Director of Riparia at Pennsylvania State University, will present an illustrated talk on Penn State University’s ecological study of the area between Schoodic Point and Schoodic Mountain at the Moore Auditorium on the SERC campus. Dr. Brooks will explain the objectives of this study, describe the methodology being used, and share the results of this year’s mapping and field sampling work. This talk is sponsored by the Frenchman Bay Conservancy and is open to the public.

Public Workshop on Insect Natural History Friday, July 31, 2009 Acadia National Park staff and local scientists will present a free public workshop about the biodiversity of insects on Sunday, August 9, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This session will take place at the Moore Auditorium on the campus of the National Park Service’s Schoodic Education and Research Center in Winter Harbor, Maine. The workshop is being sponsored by the National Park Service and Acadia Partners for Science and Learning. Dr. Cassie Gibbs, retired professor of entomology from the University of Maine, and Marcia Siebenmann, an entomologist specializing in aquatic invertebrates, will lead the workshop and explore the habits, life history, and importance of theses animals. Participants will also go out into the field to collect specimens and come back to the lab to look at what they collected under microscopes. No previous experience is necessary! Read full article: 'Public Workshop on Insect Natural History' (1023 bytes more)

Phenology Monitoring at SERC Friday, July 17, 2009 On July 15, 2009 ten people gathered at the Schoodic Education and Research Center to meet with Abraham Miller Rushing, a researcher and Coordinator of the Wildlife Phenology Program for the USA Phenology Network and The Wildlife Society. They were there to learn how to conduct phenology monitoring at Schoodic Point. The process established by the Phenology Network calls for each volunteer to select three sites in either wetland or coastal habitats in the park. At each site they will select and tag one specimen of each of three specific plant species, record their observations once a week, and submit their data to the Network. The volunteers also will look for five animal species at their selected sites and report that data as well. Read full article: 'Phenology Monitoring at SERC' (1487 bytes more)

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